RAF Wickenby – This week in history – World War 2
RAF Wickenby history week by week during World War 2
A quieter week for RAF Wickenby aircraft with only 2 missions flown, to Essen and mine-laying in the Kattegat. The mission to Essen was the last night raid to that city and was particularly successful in damaging the Krupp steel works – this was mainly due to the accurate marking by Oboe equipped Mosquitos. One aircraft was lost during this mission, with 4 aircrew killed and 3 becoming POW’s.
Attacks were made this week to Heimbach, in the Eifel region of Germany, Karlsruhe and an oil target in Eastern Germany near the town of Merseburg. This was a long trip in the depths of winter – 500 miles each way and considerable damage was caused to the synthetic oil plant. There were no losses or casualties during the week.
Two major and one minor operations this week – attacks on Freiburg and Dortmund and minelaying in the Kattegat. One aircraft was lost, one damaged by an incendiary, 6 aircrew killed, one becoming a POW and one injured by flak.
Freiburg was not an industrial town and had not been attacked before and, it appears that the authorities were taken unawares, resulting in considerable damage and the loss of over 2000 lives.
A quieter week for both squadrons, with only 2 missions – another attack on the synthetic oil plant at Wanne-Eickel and on the railway yards and lines at Aschaffenburg, southeast of Frankfurt. There were no casualties.
A pretty standard week for RAF Wickenby squadrons, with 3 operations; Dortmund, mine laying in the Kattegat and American Army support by bombing the town of Duren, which is between Aachen and the river Rhine. One aircraft was lost on return from the Dortmund raid, with 2 aircrew killed and 5 injured – the crew of Fg Off Dainty were on there 23rd mission. A second aircraft was badly damaged during the Duren attack by another aircraft exploding nearby, forcing it to land near Brussels (see Station Diary below).
Missions this week concentrated on German targets – Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Wanne-Eickel – with one aircraft lost and 7 aircrew killed. The attack on Bochum was particularly successful with over 4000 buildings destroyed and nearly 1000 people killed and was the last major raid made on this target.
Cologne took a pounding this week, with 3 raids made by Wickenby squadrons as part of more than 2000 Bomber Command sorties to that city. The attacks caused major damage and killed more than 1200 people on the ground. There was also an operation by 10 Wickenby aircraft to attack German ground positions at Domburg on the island of Walcheren in Holland. No losses occurred this week.
Wickenby aircraft were involved in 3 missions this week; minelaying in the Kattegat and twice to Essen – 8 aircrew were killed and one aircraft was lost. A rear gunner was killed by a night fighter during the minelaying and 7 aircrew were killed in the first mission to Essen, where Sgt Yule and his crew were lucky to return when hit be a 4000 lb “cookie” dropped from above (see Station Diary). It is also interesting to note that a jet fighter was observed during the second Essen operation.
A costly week for RAF Wickenby, with 6 aircraft lost, 27 aircrew killed, 4 becoming POW’s and several injured during missions or in crash landings. Attacks were made on Duisburg, Wilhelmshaven and Stuttgart. There were two missions to Duisburg on one day, with many crews making both trips, but resulting in the loss of 5 aircraft, 4 during the daylight raid, which was becoming more common due to the availability of long range fighter cover. Both of these raids consisted of more than 1,000 RAF aircraft, with the USAAF also bombing Cologne the same day with over 1,200 aircraft.
There were no casualties for Wickenby squadrons this week despite many aircraft being hit by heavy flak during the attack on Emmerich on the river Rhine near the Dutch border. One aircraft had a lucky escape when it was it by incendiaries dropped by another bomber, setting two engines on fire – the pilot, Flying Officer Clements, managed to get the aircraft back to Wickenby and was awarded a well deserved immediate DFC. This was also the first daylight attack on Germany by Wickenby aircraft.
RAF Wickenby - This week in history - World War 2 